An American woman has berated the country's healthcare system after her sister received a bill that charged her for 'crying'.
Twitter user Camille Johnson shared a picture of the bill online yesterday (17 May), explaining her sister has been 'really struggling' with a rare disease and was 'finally' able to see a doctor after having previously struggled to find care.
While at the appointment, Camille said her sister got 'emotional because she feels frustrated and helpless'.
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Becoming upset at a health issue is far from unnatural, and is no doubt something doctors across the globe see every day. Not only that, but showing emotion is not something patients should have to worry about in the grand scheme of things. Apparently that's not the case for all patients in the United States, though, as made evident by Camille's tweet.
She wrote: "One tear in and they charged her $40 (£32) without addressing why she is crying, trying to help, doing any evaluation, any prescription, nothing."
The image of the bill appears to back Camille's claim, showing a $40 charge for what is described as 'Brief Emotional/Behav Assmt'.
Other charges on the bill cover a range of treatments costing between $15 and $30, as well as a heftier charge of $350.
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In a thread addressing the bill, Camille wrote: "They charged her more for crying than they did for a vision assessment test. They charged her more for crying than for a hemoglobin test. They charged her more for crying than for a health risk assessment. They charged her more for crying than for a capilary blood draw [sic]."
Camille, a YouTuber from New York, appeared to try and gain political backing for her shock as she tagged Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders, writing: "I’ve always wanted to tell you i love you. Maybe you will see this. Thank you for your work."
The thread has received thousands of likes and retweets, with many social media users expressing disbelief over the fact the patient was charged for showing emotion.
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It doesn't appear to be an isolated incident, though, as one Twitter user responded to Camille's tweet to share a similar post they'd seen in 2021 in which a patient had been charged $11 for 'brief emotion'.
"Wow, they're REALLY jackin' up the cost of crying. This sounded very familiar, so I searched my timeline and... bam! *less than a year ago*," they wrote.
Other Twitter users have admitted they're not surprised by the charge, with one suggesting it was expected given new mothers in the US can be charged for 'holding her baby after it's born'.
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Emily Brown